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Bakabon's Papa
Bakabon's Papa (バカボンのパパ), created by Fujio Akatsuka, is the protagonist of the series The Genius Bakabon and a recurring part of Akatsuka's Star System. With being the father of the titular Bakabon, he was initially meant to simply play the part of the foolish father but soon eclipsed his son's intended role as the lead character. Overview The character was modeled after Akatsuka's father, Toshichi Akatsuka (1908-1979), after he had become a "great fool" in personality after his detention in Siberia. However, over the years, Akatsuka himself would seem to identify with the character and even take photographs of himself cosplaying "Papa" with a mustache drawn on in marker. As the series went along, Akatsuka would later admit "Papa was more interesting while I was drawing", which would lead to him being the breakout of the series. Physical Appearance Papa is a short man, often dwarfed by his son or just about the same size as him. He is recognizable by the headband (hachimaki) and belly-band (haramaki) that he wears, along with his deep forehead wrinkles, thin mustache hairs (to where they can be mistaken for mere nose hair), and only bearing two large teeth sticking out of his mouth. His basic outfit is a long-sleeved shirt, blue pants, and a pair of sandals. When asked if his hachimaki is a basic one or a ribbon, Fujio Pro's Koredeiinoda questionnaire has Papa jokingly answer that it is a "ribbon hachimaki". While his pants are often deep blue in the animated adaptations, the first anime had them depicted as more of a lavender blue shade. Papa's design is known for initially having a somewhat longer, more oblong head in the early period of the series, as well as the hairs of his mustache being much closer together and looking almost reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin. Papa also sometimes wore a jacket over his shirt. However, this changed as Akatsuka's art style and the series settings evolved. Personality Papa is an astounding fool with a childish personality, often emphasizing the fun yet chaotic parts of a "bad child" in behavior due to his ways of causing mischief and mass trouble. Those except his own family members may often consider him to be "Mean with stupidity", due to his unpredictable way. He is lacking in the common sense and ethics that other adults his age may display, and it is not uncommon for Papa to want to make things more entertaining in a boring situation but causing others' lives to be ruined around him or death to even occur. Still, it can be these ridiculous ideas that can also provide an unconventional solution to others' problems, even if it may not end the best for them. Although Mama describes him in the first anime as a man who doesn't lie, there are many times when Papa will indeed lie and play tricks on others. This can also lead him to dislike dishonesty in others, however, such as not wanting Mama to lie to look good in front of her friends. In the middle of all of his bizarre behavior, he can still be a dedicated and caring family man who wants the best for his wife and children. His favorite food is stir-fried liver with leeks (rebanira, ''originally ''nirareba but Papa's way of saying it popularized the new name), translated in the Crunchyroll version of Late Night! as "grilled liver and chives". He also enjoys eating octopus legs, but hates chikuwabu. As with other middle-aged fathers, he may also enjoy a good drink or smoke cigarettes. By Akatsuka's intent, Papa is a character designed to always be unemployed and remain like a "wandering vagabond", even if this may be seen as illogical to some who would note that neither parent work in the household yet still manage to live there. Papa has applied for work at various jobs in stories, being anything from an office worker to a chili pepper taste-tester, but this will always end terribly in some way (be it with him being fired, resigning, driving a company into bankruptcy or ruining a given establishment). Also in such intent, Papa has no true given name and simply refers to himself by his true profession, "Bakabon's Papa" or simply "Papa". While he once gives out the name of "Fuchio Tanakada" in the chapter "Everyone is Fuchio-san", this is clarified by the Koredeiinoda site as simply being a prank by the man to fool the Police Officer with Connected Eyes (whose name is given as "Fuchio Shiratsuka" in the story) and to play along with the events going on. Speech Papa has many common sayings that can be witnessed in the series, most of all "This is how things should be!" (Kore de ii noda!) which was not in his initial characterization but came along as the series developed further. He will also enjoy singing "Tarirariran~" he goes along, or greet people with "Konyanachiwa" (instead of "konnichiwa"). The suffix of "na no da" will often be attached to the end of his speech as well. Relationships with Other Characters Mama Bakabon Hajime History Described as having been born on Christmas night of the "first year of Showa" (1926), Papa was instantly seen to be a a baby with high potential at birth, already speaking and able to understand economic newspapers. He was also able to stand and walk on his own, and engineer several great inventions. However, one day while walking, Papa sneezed and the gear from his brain that represented such great intelligence flew out of his mouth, sealing his fate. Through his youth, he gained the nicknames of "Carroll" or "Norse", the latter being due to his brain always being absent. While studying at Bakada University, he met a girl from the nearby Kuroyuri University and fell in love, with her becoming his wife. Appearances in Animation Furious Ataro (1969) Papa appeared in episode 74, as an airliner pilot. He was voiced by Joji Yanami, providing a rare and interesting look at a Papa that would debut in something other than his own series, when at the time there was still no Bakabon adaptation (with the pilot film by Nippon Film Broadcasting having failed to net a series order). The Genius Bakabon (1971) In this first adaptation, pressure over Papa not having a job resulted in the staff assigning him one and deciding that he'd be a gardener. The logic behind this specific choice would be that Papa would still be able to wander from place to place, and the stories would stem from there. However, this decision and others were made without the consultation and approval of Fujio Akatsuka, and he disliked the setting. Yet Akatsuka did enjoy the voicing of Papa by Masashi Amenomori, which was influential in him reprising the role for the next adaptation. The Original Genius Bakabon Papa's characterization and circumstances are much closer to the manga in this instance, though his original story was changed some; rather than simply sneezing out the gear in his brain, he got into a car accident and a nearby horse swallowed his brain. At the same time, the horse's own brain was ejected and landed into his mouth, giving him the inferior intellect of the creature. Heisei Genius Bakabon In this adaptation, some of Papa's antics are more modernized and some are softened while still retaining their chaotic nature. His origin is tweaked some to have it so that he lost the gear inside his head due to it being broken when a horse kicked him. As Masashi Amenomori had passed away in 1984, the competition for a new Papa voice was somewhat challenging. According to a series writer Kazuhisa Sakaguchi, at least six veteran actors had auditioned for Papa, but only Kosei Tomita's naturally fast and active tone proved to have staying power and that he fit perfectly for the naughtier mischief of the character. It may have also helped that Tomita voiced Papa in the 1988 Sega game, and had also voiced Papa in a '71 "Genius Bakabon" sonosheet. Rerere's Genius Bakabon Papa is modernized some more somewhat for this series, and bears occasional moments of some surprising common sense and knowledge, such as when he teaches Bakabon about how special effects heroes would work. Late Night! Genius Bakabon Portrayals Voice Acting * Furious Ataro (1969)- Joji Yanami * The Genius Bakabon (1971), The Original Genius Bakabon, Nyarome's Fun Mathematics Classroom- Masashi Amenomori * Heisei Genius Bakabon, CR Genius Bakabon pachinko game, commercials- Kosei Tomita * Rerere's Genius Bakabon- Hisahiro Ogura * The Genius Bakavon: ~Reviving the Dog of Flanders~- FROGMAN * Late Night! Genius Bakabon- Shinta Furuta. Hisahiro Ogura also voiced Papa for the first part of episode 1, while Jun Fukuyama also had lines when Papa tried to reinvent himself as a hot anime woman. Live Action Shinya Ueda has portrayed Bakabon's Papa in three Nippon TV live-action specials to date, along with making guest appearances as Papa on programming. Inspiration and Development Cultural Impact Gallery Trivia * According to Akatsuka, Papa was his favorite character to draw as "No matter how drunk I am, I can still draw the face of Bakabon's Papa". References External Links * Bakabon's Papa at Koredeiinoda (Japanese) Category:Characters and Mascots Category:The Genius Bakabon